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Oscar López Rivera

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Oscar López Rivera
Oscar López Rivera
Born
Oscar López Rivera

(1943-01-06) January 6, 1943 (age 81)
San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
Known forLongest-incarcerated FALN member[3][4]
Criminal statusIncarcerated by the U.S. government
AwardsBronze Star Medal
Criminal chargeSeditious conspiracy,[1] use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms and ammunition to aid in the commission of a felony[2]
PenaltyPrison for 70 years

Oscar López Rivera (born January 6, 1943) is a Puerto Rican nationalist[5] and one of the leaders of the FALN. In 1981, López Rivera was convicted and sentenced to 55 years in federal prison for seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms, and conspiracy to transport explosives with intent to destroy government property.[6][7] In 1988 he was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison for conspiring to escape from the Leavenworth federal prison. Lopez solicited unincarcerated supporters to obtain weapons, grenades, and C-4 explosives for use in breaking him and fellow inmates – to whom Lopez had boasted about his leadership role in the FALN – out of prison.[8][9]

López Rivera was among the 14 convicted FALN members[10] offered conditional clemency by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1999, but rejected the offer. His sister, Zenaida López, said he refused the offer because on parole, he would be in "prison outside prison."[5][11] Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, has stated that "the primary reason that López Rivera did not accept the clemency offer extended to him in 1999 was because it had not also been extended to fellow FALN prisoner Carlos Torres (who was subsequently released from prison in July 2010)."[12] According to New York Times writer John Broder, López Rivera "refused to accept the President's offer to commute their sentences. Mr. Clinton demanded as one of the conditions of their release that the jailed Puerto Ricans renounce the use of terrorism to achieve their aim of independence for the Caribbean commonwealth."[13]

The continued imprisonment of López Rivera has been both opposed as well as supported by groups and individuals representing political, religious, and other various establishments. While some call him a terrorist, others call him a political prisoner. Several U.S. Congressmen support Oscar López Rivera's release from prison.[14][15][16][17][18] There has also been continued support for the continued incarceration of López Rivera by family members of the individuals killed by the FALN, who still see López Rivera as representing the FALN conspiracy.[19]

Early years and personal life

Oscar López Rivera was born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico,[20][21][22] on January 6, 1943. His family moved to the U.S. when he was nine years old. At the age of 14, he moved to Chicago to live with a sister. At age 18 he was drafted into the army and served in the Vietnam War and awarded the Bronze Star. When he returned to Illinois from the war in 1967, he found that drugs, unemployment, housing, health care and education in the Puerto Rican community had reached dire levels and set to work in community organizations to improve the quality of life for Puerto Ricans.[23]

He was a well-respected community activist and an independence leader for many years prior to his arrest.[24] Oscar worked in the creation of both the Puerto Rican High School and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was also involved in the struggle for bilingual education in public schools and to force universities to actively recruit Latino students, staff, and faculty. He worked on ending discrimination in public utilities.[23]

López Rivera was one of the founders of La Escuelita Puertorriqueña, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, a half-way house for convicted drug addicts, and ALAS, an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois.[25]

Conviction for sedition, robbery, transportation of firearms

The Federal district court in the Northern District of Illinois[26] convicted López Rivera for seditious conspiracy and other charges stemming from his participation in the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), a Marxist-Leninist organization which sought to transform Puerto Rico into a communist state during the 1970s.[27][28][full citation needed]

López Rivera was first linked to the criminal conspiracy carried out by the FALN in 1976. That year, a burglar was arrested in Chicago attempting to peddle stolen explosives. The burglar led the Chicago police to an apartment, nearly void of furniture, but in which there were boxes containing explosives and bomb-making paraphernalia, weapons, clothing, wigs, and photographs of Chicago buildings, maps of the city, and several FALN documents, including a manual for guerrilla warfare detailing deceptive practices and rules of clandestine living titled Posición Política. This bomb factory was linked to the owner of the apartment, Carlos Torres, López Rivera, and their respective wives, Marie Haydée Beltrán Torres and Ida Luz Rodríguez. All four became fugitives after this discovery. Torres Beltrán was ultimately convicted of the bombing that killed Charles Prendergast at the Mobil office building in New York. The four suspects were also linked to the National Commission on Hispanic Affairs (NCHA) of the Protestant Episcopal Church, a charitable organization based in New York City that was meant to fund projects to assist Hispanic communities all over the United States.[29] The next break in the investigation occurred in 1977, when 11 FALN members, including Luz Rodriguez and Torres Beltrán, were arrested during a planned robbery of an armored truck in Evanston, Illinois. López Rivera was apprehended a few years later when, according to police, he ran a stop sign in a Chicago suburb and provided a false Oregon driver's license.[30]

At his trial in 1980–81, López Rivera admitted committing every act for which he was charged, but declared himself a political prisoner and refused to take part in most of his trial.[31]

In August 1981, at the trial of López Rivera, Alfredo Méndez, one of the 11 Evanston FALN members who had become an informant, testified that López Rivera taught him how to make bomb detonation devices and gun silencers. He also testified that the first bombing in which Méndez was to have taken part was to have occurred in the hotel where the offices for the Democratic Party were located. Méndez stated that other bombings were scheduled to occur simultaneously in New York City, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Speaking on his own behalf during closing arguments López Rivera stated, "Puerto Rico will be a free and socialist country" and denounced Méndez as a traitor.[30] López Rivera was convicted of "seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms and ammunition to aid in the commission of a felony, and interstate transportation of stolen vehicles". The offenses arose out of his role in Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (“FALN”), a Puerto Rican nationalist group whose activities included over 100 bombings in which six (6) people were killed and others maimed".[32]

The presentencing report stated that López Rivera had been

personally involved in bombing and incendiary attacks across the country for at least five years prior to Méndez's [sic] involvement and knowledge, has been a prime recruiter for members of the underground terrorist group, and has been a key trainer in bombing, sabotage and other techniques of guerilla warfare. He has set up a series of safehouses and bomb factories across the country, the searches of which have uncovered literally hundreds of pounds of dynamite and other forms of high explosive, blasting caps, timing devices, huge caches of weapons and stockpiles of ammunition, silencers, sawed-off shotguns, disguises, stolen and altered identity documents, and the proceeds of the armed robberies of locations such as a National Guard Armory, Chicago's Carter-Mondale Re-Election headquarters, radio and communications companies, as well as a variety of stolen vehicles.[33]

In 1988, López Rivera was convicted of conspiracy to escape and given an additional 15 years.[24] According to the United States government, an initial escape plot in 1983, utilizing explosives and weapons and involving Carlos Torres and Edwin Cortés was foiled, but the conspirators were not arrested in order to maintain surveillance of their activities.[34] The United States has also stated that a second escape plot, which involved explosives and weapons, ultimately led to the conviction and arrest of two of the FBI's most wanted fugitives of the 1980s, Claude Daniels Marks and Donna Jean Willmott.[35]

In 1995, in interviews after his conviction, López Rivera neither confirmed nor denied his affiliation with the FALN and disowned any personal involvement in the bombing deaths.[36] After spending twelve years in maximum security prisons in Marion, Illinois and Florence, Colorado, he was transferred to the general prison population at the federal correctional facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he remains today.

Claims he is a political prisoner

Self declaration

At the time of their arrest López Rivera and the others declared themselves to be combatants in an anti-colonial war against the United States to liberate Puerto Rico from U.S. domination and invoked prisoner of war status, stating that the U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction to treat them as criminals and petitioned for their cases to be handed over to an international court that would determine their status. The U.S. Government, however, did not recognize their request.[37]

Supporters

For many years, numerous national and international organizations criticized López Rivera' incarceration categorizing it as political imprisonment.[38] Luis Nieves Falcón, a social science professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, has said that López Rivera is "among the longest held political prisoners in the history of Puerto Rico and in the world."[39] He has been jailed for 43 years, 6 months and 21 days.[40]

Cases involving the release of other Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners have been categorized as cases of political prisoners, with some[41][42][43][44] being more vocal than others.[45][46][47]

On June 7, 2012, Puerto Rican activist Tito Kayak started a two-leg lone high seas voyage from Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Washington, D.C., to protest the U.S. incarceration of Oscar López Rivera. Kayak described him as a political prisoner.[48][49]

In 1999, speaking on the FALN's charge of seditious conspiracy, Congressman Luis Gutiérrez stated that the charge was "a political charge",[50] and Congressman John J. LaFalce added that it represented López Rivera's "desire to have independence for Puerto Rico from the United States".[50] The charge of seditious conspiracy refers to participation in plots aiming to "overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States".[51]

Prison experience

Supporters of López Rivera have accused the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons of isolating López Rivera on the basis of his political beliefs.[52] Twelve of his 32 years in prison, López Rivera has been held in solitary confinement in maximum security prisons in the United States.[36]

In 2006, a special committee of the United Nations called for the release of the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners in United States prisons.[41]

Claims he is a terrorist

Congress

The continued incarceration of López Rivera has been supported by many in the United States, including a majority Congress, including the representative of Puerto Rico in Congress. President Clinton's offer of clemency to former FALN members, including Oscar, was strongly opposed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both the US House of Representatives (311-41)[10] and the Senate (95-2).[50][53] López Rivera and the other FALN prisoners were labelled as terrorists by the U.S. Congress.

On September 21, 1999, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Carlos Romero Barceló testified that he "did not oppose the conditional release of these criminals, but (he) did oppose their unconditional release."[54] López Rivera had sought unconditional release. In making the statement to a committee evaluating the pardons, he stated: "Between 1974 and 1983, a small group of political extremists... carried out over 100 major armed attacks in the mainland and in Puerto Rico with the purpose of imposing independence for the island by means of violence, threats and terror." Barceló went on further to state that López and other FALN members were terrorists, and that if they did not commit violence directly, they endorsed it.[55]

Families of the dead and injured

While López Rivera does not deny or confirm his affiliation with the FALN and disowns any personal involvement in the bombing deaths, The FALN was involved in more than 100 bombings in New York, Chicago and other cities. The 1975 bombing at Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan killed four people, among them, Frank Connor, age 33. His son, Joseph F. Connor, has played an instrumental role in blocking the release of López Rivera, the man he considers partly responsible for his father's death.[19]

Former New York City police officer Richard Pascarella, who was blinded and lost five fingers on his right hand in an FALN bombing, also publicly opposed clemency to FALN members, stating: "They will again voice their ideology on the American public with a bomb and with a gun."[56]

Incarceration support by others

Those opposed to the Clinton clemency point out that Oscar López was convicted, among other charges, of armed robbery and for being a recruiter and bomb-making trainer in the FALN.[30]

In addition others note the additional conviction that was added in 1986 to López Rivera's sentence for taking part in an unsuccessful violent plot to use hand grenades, plastic explosives, blasting caps, and a helicopter to engineer and escape from Leavenworth prison.[57][58] The FALN seditious conspiracy, with its many bombings of civilian buildings in New York and Chicago, was one of the targets of the first terrorism task force in the United States; the US Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), established in April 1980, had as one of its goals to pursue threats from the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN).[59]

Clemency offer

López Rivera was among the 14 convicted FALN members offered conditional clemency by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1999, but he rejected the offer.[60] Clinton judged that the sentences received by López Rivera and the other nationalists were "out of proportion to the nationalists' offenses."[5][61][62] Among the conditions for the clemency that López Rivera declined, was that they renounce the use of terrorism.[13] Clinton and others defended this offer of clemency, stating that Oscar López Rivera was never convicted of specific crimes that resulted in deaths or injuries,[63] and that López Rivera was never convicted of any act of violence.[38][64][65][66]

According to Outstanding Book Award editors Andrés Torres and José Emiliano Velázquez, U.S. Government statistics showed the prisoners' sentences were "about six times longer" than sentences for murder offenses by the American population at large.[67][note 1][68]

The clemency offer was opposed by bipartisan majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives (311-41)[10] and Senate (95-2).[50][53] Those opposed to the clemency point out that Oscar López was convicted, among other charges, of armed robbery and for being a recruiter for the FALN and trainer in how to make bombs and silencers.[30]

Calls for his release

The continued imprisonment of Oscar López Rivera has been opposed by the Puerto Rican community in the United States, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere.[69][70][71][72]

His release has been demanded by 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners, Coretta Scott King, President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Senator Bernie Sanders as well as an international coalition of human rights, and religious, labor, and business leaders including the United Council of Churches of Christ, United Methodist Church, Baptist Peace Fellowship, Episcopal Church of Puerto Rico, and the Catholic Archbishop of San Juan.[10][69][70][71][72][73][74][75]

2010

In 2010, the Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, officially requested López Rivera's release.[76]

2013

In 2013, several high-profile manifestations took place in Puerto Rico on behalf of Oscar López Rivera. These were attended by the highest levels of Puerto Rican government, politicians from all political parties, prominent Puerto Rican artists, singers, actors, Major League baseball players, and hundreds of other people.[77][78][79][80]

Several U.S. congressmen, as well as the Governor of Puerto Rico, have also shown their support for his release, asking the President of the United States for it.[14][16][18][79]

On May 29, 2013, on the 32nd anniversary of López Rivera's continuous incarceration, high-ranking officials, former prison personnel, singers, actors, Major League baseball players, and hundreds of other volunteers participated in mock-up prison cell events throughout Puerto Rico calling for the release of López Rivera from the American prison system.[80] In addition, several U.S. Congressmen have shown their support for his release from prison, with a few contacting President Obama asking for his release.[14][16][18]

In a manifestation of solidarity for the release of López Rivera, numerous volunteers participated in a 24-hour demonstration where they remained confined to 6 ft x 9 ft mock-up prison cells intended to represent López Rivera's current cell size in Terre Haute, Indiana. The demonstrations took place on May 29, 2013 at the central squares of Puerto Rico's four largest cities, San Juan, Ponce, Mayagüez, and Arecibo.[69][72] Some of the volunteers included politicians, like María de Lourdes Santiago, a Puerto Rican senator,[81] musicians, like Tito Auger,[81] and actors, like Ángela Meyer.[81]

Others entering the mock-up cells were pro-Statehood party Ponce mayor María Meléndez, writer Mayra Montero, San Juan pro-Commonwealth party mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, former Puerto Rico governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, and former Major Leagues baseball player Carlos Delgado.[79]

On that same day hundreds of activists, including pop star Ricky Martin, asked for his release from prison.[77][78] The governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, also joined the call for López Rivera's release, communicating his request by letter to President Barack Obama.[79] His release is also supported by Congressmen Luis Gutiérrez and José E. Serrano, as well as by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.

2014

A group of young students and workers in Spain joined the international demand for the release of Oscar López Rivera. From February 28, 2014 until April 1, 2014 the Comite 33 días por la excarcelación de Oscar informed the population resident in Spain about the violation of human rights that the U.S. government has committed against López Rivera. In addition, they collected signatures to ask U.S. President Barack H. Obama to grant him a presidential pardon.[71]

External audio
audio icon You can hear a half-hour radio news segment on Oscar López Rivera, conducted by NYC radio host Howard Jordan on WBAI 99.5 FM (on June 6, 2014) Here.

In March 2014 the Mexican pop singer Cristian Castro joined the international demand for López Rivera's release.[70]

In early June 2014 the Speaker of the New York City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito, officially supported the release of Oscar López Rivera.[82]

On June 6, 2014 in New York City, radio station WBAI 99.5 FM conducted a half-hour news and interview segment on Oscar López Rivera. The radio segment was conducted by Howard Jordan, the host of the show.[83]

On June 7, 2014, Miguel Cotto and José Pedraza called for the release of Oscar López Rivera, lending their prestige as champion fighters hailing from Puerto Rico. Miguel Cotto is the middleweight champion of the world and the first Puerto Rican to be the world boxing champion in four different weight classes. The two fighters appeared with “Free Oscar López Rivera” shirts in the ring at Madison Square Garden, and Pedraza previously wore the shirt in a fight in Puerto Rico.[84]

On June 8, 2014, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade paid tribute to Oscar López Rivera. On that day, a contingent in support of his release marched in the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. A week earlier, the June March 1 in Bronx, NYC was also dedicated to Oscar López Rivera.[84]

2016

On May 16, 2016 Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders publicly tweeted, "Oscar Lopez Rivera has served 34 years in prison for his commitment to Puerto Rico's independence. I say to President Obama: let him out."[85]

Notes

  1. ^ The figures are based on Torres and Velazquez's documented average of 5.4 years' prison term received by those convicted of murder, and pitting this average against the average 65.4 years' prison term that the FALN prisoners received

References

  1. ^ Dankosky, John. "Rep. Gutierrez: "It's Time" to Release Oscar López Rivera".
  2. ^ United States Justice Department, 2011 parole hearing report for Oscar López Rivera.
  3. ^ "Behind a Push for Parole in Chicago, a Prisoner's Old Neighborhood". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  4. ^ "New Book: "Oscar López Rivera, Entre la Tortura y la Resistencia"". Repeating Islands. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Broder, John M. (November 8, 1999). "12 Imprisoned Puerto Ricans Accept Clemency Conditions". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  6. ^ United States Justice Department, 2011 parole hearing report for Oscar López Rivera.
  7. ^ UPI article from August 11, 1981, title: Sentence FALN terrorist to 55 years in jail.
  8. ^ United States Justice Department, 2011 parole hearing report for Oscar López Rivera.
  9. ^ US Department of Justice, news advisory on the commutation of sentences for FALN members.
  10. ^ a b c d "Congressional Record - House : September 1999". Frwebgate.access.gpo.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  11. ^ Charles Babington (September 11, 1999). "Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed From Prison". Washington Post. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  12. ^ Letter from Resident Commissioner Pedro L. Pierluisi to President Barack Obama. Pedro L. Perluisi. U.S. House of Representatives. February 21, 2013. Page 3. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  13. ^ a b 12 Imprisoned Puerto Ricans Accept Clemency Conditions, New York Times article by John Broder, September 8, 1999.
  14. ^ a b c Brooklyn Group Rallies for Release of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner. Jeanine Ramírez. NY1 Warner Cable News. February 25, 2014.
  15. ^ Grayson Letter Requesting Release of Oscar López-Rivera. Congressman Alan Grayson. January 3, 2004.
  16. ^ a b c Letter to President Obama Regarding Oscar López Rivera. Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. February 21, 2013.
  17. ^ Serrano Sends Letter in Support of the Release of Oscar López Rivera. Congressman Jose E. Serrano. November 22, 2013.
  18. ^ a b c Rep. Gutiérrez: "It's Time" to Release Oscar López Rivera. John Dankosky. NPR News. November 14, 2013.
  19. ^ a b Behind a Push for Parole in Chicago, a Prisoner’s Old Neighborhood. Emma Graves Fitzsimmons. February 11, 2011.
  20. ^ "Resolution 51: Resolution in Support of the Release of Oscar Lopez Rivera". Aflcio.org. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  21. ^ "Claridad / Oscar Lopez Rivera" (in Spanish). Claridadpuertorico.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  22. ^ OLR Biography. National Boricua Human Rights Network. 2014.
  23. ^ a b ProLIBERTAD Campaign for the Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War: Arm the Spirit ProLIBERTAD. October 30, 1995. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  24. ^ a b James, Joy (2007). Warfare in the American Homeland: Policing and Prison in a Penal Democracy. Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-3923-4, p. 159
  25. ^ Rosales, Francisco (2006). Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History. Arte Publico Press, ISBN 1-55885-347-2, p. 159
  26. ^ Puerto Rico Herald; Findings of Committee on Government Reform investigation of the President's decision to offer clemency to sixteen FALN and Macheteros terrorists.
  27. ^ Smith, Brent L. (1994). Terrorism in America: Pipebombs and Pipedreams. SUNY Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-079141-759-1.
  28. ^ Holcomb, Raymond W. (2011). Endless Enemies: Inside FBI Counterterrorism. University of Nebraska Press (imprint: Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59797-361-8.
  29. ^ Effects and effectiveness of law enforcement intelligence measures to counter homegrown terrorism: A case study on the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN); Roberta Belli, Final Report to the Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, August 2012, page 16.
  30. ^ a b c d "Son Of Reagan Termed The Target Of Terrorist Plot". Puerto Rico: NYTimes.com. July 25, 1981. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  31. ^ UPI article from August 11, 1981, titled Sentence FALN terrorist to 55 years in jail.
  32. ^ US Department of Justice Parole Commission report Archived July 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ Puerto Rico Herald, Findings of Committee on Government Reform.
  34. ^ Roberta Belli, page 25.
  35. ^ Roberta Belli, page 28.
  36. ^ a b Prendergast, Alan (July 12, 1995). "END OF THE LINE - Denver | Denver News and Events". Westword. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  37. ^ Torres, Andrés; Velázquez, José Emiliano (1998). The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Temple University Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-56639-618-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ a b 11 Puerto Rican nationalists freed from prison: Hearings in Congress next week on Clinton clemency offer. CNN. September 10, 1999. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  39. ^ “Oscar López Rivera, Entre la Tortura y la Resistencia”, by Luis Nieves Falcón. "Repeating Islands: News and commentary on Caribbean culture, literature, and the arts." December 2, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  40. ^ Puerto Rico: Free Oscar López Rivera! Steven Katsineris. Green Left Weekly. Issue 879. May 15, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  41. ^ a b United Nations General Assembly. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self-determination Process: Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro-Independence Leader’s Killing, Human Rights Abuses; Calls for Clean-up, Decontamination of Vieques. June 12, 2006. (GA/COL/3138/Rev.1*). Department of Public Information, News and Media Division, New York. Special Committee on Decolonization, 8th & 9th Meetings. (Issued on June 13, 2006.)
  42. ^ Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, City University of New York. Guide to the Ruth M. Reynolds Papers: Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. August 1991 and December 2003. Updated 2005. Reviews Puerto Rico – U.S. relations, including cases of Puerto Rican political prisoners.
  43. ^ Vito Marcantonio, U.S. Congressman. In his August 5, 1939, speech before Congress titled Five Years of Tyranny. (Recorded in the Congressional Record. August 14, 1939.) In the words of Congressman Marcantonio, "There is no place in America for political prisoners.... When we ask ourselves, 'Can it happen here?' the Puerto Rican people can answer, 'It has happened in Puerto Rico.' as he spoke about the treatment of Puerto Rican Nationalist and U.S. prisoner Pedro Albizu Campos. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  44. ^ "Puerto Rican community celebrates release of political prisoner" Chicago Sun-Times. Report states, "Chicago's Puerto Rican community celebrates the release of political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres...."
  45. ^ "Carlos Alberto Torres, Puerto Rican Nationalist Imprisoned In Illinois For 30 Years, Returns Home To Puerto Rico" The Huffington Post July 28, 2010
  46. ^ Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican Nationalist, Dies at 90" by Douglas Martin. The New York Times August 3, 2010
  47. ^ "Puerto Rican Nationalist Sentenced to 7 Years for 1983 Wells Fargo Robbery in Conn." Fox News Network. May 26, 2010. Retrieved 11 Juna 2014.
  48. ^ Tito Kayak vuelve a enfrentar problemas en el mar. Noticel. July 2, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  49. ^ Travesia a remo por la libertad y la paz: Desde Ciudad Bolívar hasta Puerto Rico en solaridad con el preso politico más antiguo: Oscar López Rivera. CCS. (via Cyber News) Bolívar, Venezuela. Issue 1002. May 17, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012. Originally by Brenda Peña López of El Nuevo Dia, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
  50. ^ a b c d "Congressional Record - House : September 1999". Frwebgate.access.gpo.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  51. ^ United States Code, Title 18, Section 2384
  52. ^ "The Circle Game" Prendergast, Alan. The Denver Westworld. Retrieved December 11, 2008
  53. ^ a b The Clintons' Terror Pardons by Debra Burlingame, for Wall Street Journal, updated February 12, 2008.
  54. ^ Hearing before the Committee on Government reform on the FALN Clemency, Carlos Romero Barceló testimony, page 24.
  55. ^ Carlos Romero Barceló testimony, page 23
  56. ^ 12 Accept FALN Clemency Deal, CBS News article, September 7, 1999.
  57. ^ 6 Indicted In Faln Escape Plot, Chicago Tribune, August 21, 1986, By William B. Crawford Jr.
  58. ^ Faln Leader Among 4 Whose Convictions Are Upheld By Court, Chicago Tribune, December 25, 1989, by William Grady, Legal affairs writer.
  59. ^ "FBI — The Early Years: Part One". Fbi.gov. September 11, 1980. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  60. ^ Bosque Pérez, Ramón. Puerto Rico Under Colonial Rule: Political Persecution And The Quest For. State University of New York Press. p. 119.
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  62. ^ Governor Dismisses Serious Crimes Done in the Name of Independence. Puerto Rico Report. July 5, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  63. ^ "Eleven Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed from Prison". Washington: CNN. September 19, 1999.
  64. ^ "Arecibo clamó por la libertad de Oscar". Primerahora.com. May 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  65. ^ "32 Days for 32 Years: Day 1 Alejandro Luis Molina | National Boricua Human Rights Network". Boricuahumanrights.org. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  66. ^ Brooklyn Group Rallies for Release of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner. Jeanine Ramirez. NY1 Warner Cable News. February 25, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  67. ^ The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Andrés Torres and José Emiliano Velázquez. Page 149. Temple University Press. 1998. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  68. ^ The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  69. ^ a b c Crean cárcel para libertad de Oscar López. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 31. Issue 1537. Page 12. May 15, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  70. ^ a b c Cristian Castro se une al pedido de excarcelación de Oscar López | El Vocero de Puerto Rico. Elvocero.com. March 12, 2014.
  71. ^ a b c Boricuas en la Madre Patria inician jornada por la liberación de Oscar. CyberNews. Noticel. March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  72. ^ a b c Oscar López Rivera une a Pedro Julio Serrano y César Vázquez. El Nuevo Dia. May 29, 2013. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. May 29, 2013.
  73. ^ Shane Bauer. "This Man Is Serving 75 Years for "Seditious Conspiracy." Is He a Danger to Society?". Mother Jones. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  74. ^ Denuncian torturas a las que someten a Oscar López, Daniel Rivera Vargas, Primera Hora, May 29, 2013.
  75. ^ Osacar Lopez Rivera (February 1, 2013). Oscar Lopez Rivera: Between Torture and Resistance. PM Press. pp. 9–. ISBN 978-1-60486-833-3.
  76. ^ Figuras públicas continúan encarcelándose por Oscar López Rivera: Abogan por la liberación del preso político durante manifestación de 24 horas. El Nuevo Dia. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  77. ^ a b Puerto Ricans Urge Release of Nationalist Prisoner. Danica Coto. Associated Press. San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 30, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  78. ^ a b René Pérez se encierra por Oscar López: Se unió a los reclamos por la liberación del prisionero político puertorriqueño que lleva 32 años encarcelado en los Estados Unidos. Gerardo Cordero. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  79. ^ a b c d Gobernador se une petición de excarcelación de Oscar López Rivera. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  80. ^ a b Claman por la liberación de Oscar López Rivera. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  81. ^ a b c Tito Auger ameniza manifestación a favor de Oscar López en Caguas. Primera Hora. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  82. ^ "Melissa Mark-Viverito turns out to support jailed Puerto Rican nationalist". NY Daily News. June 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  83. ^ "Edited06-06-2014JJournalJoseLopez-Oscar Lopez Brother". Mediafire.com. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  84. ^ a b McDevitt, John. "Champion boxers call for release of Puerto Rican political prisoner". Pslweb.org. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  85. ^ "Bernie Sanders on Twitter".
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